Jackpot winner left between Hard Rock, hard place

"'They just said, `You know the jackpot that you won? We're not going to pay it,' '' said Howard, who lives in Sunny Isles Beach and goes to the casino five times a week."

"''I'm not sure what caused the error, but officials that night did think initially that the person had won,'' confirmed Gary Bitner, a Seminole Tribe spokesman."

"The Hard Rock, as part of the Seminole Indian reservation, is considered a sovereign nation -- so it isn't governed by state or local law. So Howard may have no place to turn.

"'We don't regulate the Seminole Indians anywhere in Florida,'' said Tom Butler, deputy press secretary for the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation. ``We are hands-off. It's how the federal government tells us we have to be. It's a difficult situation.''


(Dead link: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15466233.htm)

-Sonny-

It looks like this one had a happy ending after all:

"First, he won a big Seminole casino jackpot. Then Freddy Howard found out he hadn't won. Then came an outside investigation that proved Howard wasn't entitled to anything, the tribe's gaming gurus said.

On Tuesday, they paid him anyway, giving Howard a check for $259,945.75, although nobody from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino would admit he deserved it."

(Dead link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-sseminole20sep20,0,2662092.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines)

-Sonny-

Well, a little shady at best

Mr Howard Jr. is very lucky (that he got paid), since he was using his dad's card.
When my wife goes to the casino, she checks with her family and friends that are not going. She checks to see if they have any free slot play that is about to expire and that they will lose if they can't go soon enough. She offers to take their players cards with her and to play any free slot play that's about to expire. If she wins a small amount, no problem. She just cashes the coupon and brings the cash home to the card owner. The card owner gets a little playing time credit or comp time along with their small win.
But like Mr. Howard, what happens if her mom's card or her Asian friend's card wins BIIIGGG!! Like enough for the casino to confirm identity, as in Mr Howard's case. My wife's married name is different than her maiden (mom's) name. There is no way she can pass for the person's name on our Asian friends card. If we bring their ID we can surely not pass for them! We have often wondered how we would handle a big win should the occasion ever arise.
If the big hit ever happened, the casino would have a loop hole and not be required to pay.

I think this is what happened with Mr. Howard. The Casino caved in because of the publicity. As I said, he was very lucky!